Painting with oil paints – Woodland scenes

Painting woodland scenes using oil paints with a step-by-step guide from Geoff Kersey

As I spend a lot of my time teaching and demonstrating watercolour painting, I find it relaxing to paint from time to time in oil.

I enjoy the immediacy and relative freedom of the medium compared to the more disciplined approach I employ with watercolour.

I really enjoy a woodland walk on a bright day when the sun filters through the foliage, illuminating the fresh new grass and casting warm shadows across the ground.

The scene above represents a fairly simple subject but evokes just the sort of conditions I would like to capture in an oil painting.

I used Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyd paint, which seems to handle just like traditional oil but is much quicker drying and enables me to glaze much more easily without disturbing the previously applied colour.

I combined the alkyd paint with Liquin medium in areas where I required a thinner application.

1.)

I had previously prepared a sheet of hardboard by priming it with three coats of acrylic primer before drawing in the basic composition with a 2B pencil.

I was careful not to draw too much detail, leaving out some of the trees and not attempting to draw foliage, as I much prefer to put all these details in with paint.

However, the perspective and position of the path is very important, and I made sure I had this correct before proceeding.

2.)

I blocked in the main shapes with a one-inch flat brush.

I used French Ultramarine and Magenta for the glimpse of sky; Lemon Yellow; a brighter yellow made by adding White to Lemon Yellow; a bright green mixed from Lemon Yellow and French Ultramarine; and a darker green made from Lemon Yellow, French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna.

Lemon Yellow is perfect for that bright, fresh shade so abundant in spring.

Other colours were Raw Sienna with a touch of Magenta for the path and wall, and Cadmium Red on the wall for a hint of warmth.

These were followed by a dark brown made from Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine for the edge of the path, a touch of Raw Sienna to add some warmth to the bottom left-hand corner, and highlights in White.

3.)

Next, I used a half-inch filbert to continue blocking in.

This time I added a dark green made from Viridian, French Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna to increase the contrast and sharpen up the definition of the shadow area behind and in front of the wall and the left-hand foreground.

Lastly, I added some of the dark brown (Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine) to the base of the wall and sides of the path.

4.)

I now wanted to soften all these loose shapes representing light and foliage, creating a looser, less-clearly-defined look.

To achieve this I brushed rapidly with a very light touch over the whole of the background with a soft, squirrel hair filbert brush.

This is basically a watercolour brush but because it is so soft, it is perfect for blending and blurring the previously blocked-in shapes.

5.)

The distant trees were suggested with thin lines of varying shades of brown using a rigger, after which I used a large fan brush with a mixture of Lemon Yellow and white to suggest foliage.

The fan brush was also used in an upwards-flicking motion to bring out tufts of grass along the left and right hand banks

6.)

The larger foreground tree on the left was placed using a darker brown than on the distant trees, mixed from Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine.

More brightly lit spring foliage is suggested with quick flicks of the tip of a No. 2 round brush, using a mixture of Lemon Yellow and white.

As you can see, the painting was really taking shape, as I further increased the ‘light against dark’ effect by putting in a stronger tone (Burnt Sienna and French Ultramarine) all along the right-hand edge of the path to suggest the shadows and emphasize the deep dip between the grassy banks.

With the same mixture I started to indicate some of the stones in the path, giving it an uneven, well-trodden look.

I also used the dark brown to add some detail to the dry-stone wall – suggesting the crevices between the stones rather than the stones themselves – before adding the large tree on the left with an even stronger dark brown mixture.

7.)

In the final stage I placed the tree in the bottom left, softening the base of it with a few suggestions of long grass.

I placed in a few more stones in the path using some Raw Sienna mixed with White for their tops contrasting with rich dark brown for the shadow side.

I placed in some more suggestions of weeds and flowers using the fan brush and the same mixture of Lemon Yellow and White followed by a mixture of Cobalt Blue and Magenta, also with a touch of white, to suggest the blue flowers on the right-hand bank.

Tips for success

■ When blending the colour with a soft brush you need to employ a light touch so as to blur the colour slightly without disturbing it to much.

■ Bear in mind that alkyd dries a lot faster than traditional oil, so if you want to move existing colour don’t leave it until the next day, as it is usually touch-dry by then.